FIRM will participate in National Poison Prevention Week NPPW) from March 15th-March 21st. FIRM is a 2015 partner in the California Poison Control outreach and education grant facilitated by University of California, San Francisco. This has been a program that FIRM has been pleased to participate in over the last several years.
FIRM provides outreach about the dangers of poisonous substances that Americans encounter on a regular basis. This includes workshops, ethnic media outreach and this year included the development of a text message system in the Hmong language (plus much more!). As with many other programs, outreach and education is so important as information is provided in the Hmong, Lao and Slavic languages. Many times information about valuable community programs and resources do not flow into the refugee community due to language barriers. This is one key reason why FIRM was selected to participate in this program.
During the NPPW this year, FIRM will be doing special segments on Hmong television, putting special posts on our social media sites, providing workshops in Hmong, Lao and Ukrainian and enrolling Hmong speakers into the new text messaging system.
FIRM is also pleased to announce that Pakou Vang has been hired to work in this program and ensure that families are protected from the dangers of poisonous substances.
Zachary Darrah says, “Everyone should know about this free resource we have available to us in California. The California Poison Control System can be called at 1-800-222-1222 at anytime on any day throughout the year for expert advice about possible poisonings or poison substances. This is a very important resource for the refugee community because there are always language interpreters to assist callers in Hmong, Lao and Ukrainian! We are proud to be part of this program and to promote The California Poison Control System in 2015.”
Celebrate National Poison Prevention Week along with FIRM in 2015 by spreading the word about this valuable resource to everyone you know!